Transformations

The other day as I visited some of the widows blogs I follow, I couldn't help but feel like I was eye-witness to butterflies emerging from their cocoons. Oh, how the Lord has brought these women through their grief! I've been reading their blogs over many months, and see how their raw pain is beginning to heal.  Transformation has begun!

Read Joannah's Nine Months, which she just posted on Dec. 7 compared to Oranges & Onions which was shortly after Michael passed away. Back in March, eating held no pleasure, only sad memories. Now in December she's able to look forward to a dinner with her in-laws to celebrate the memory of her husband's birthday. I say this with tears in my eyes, because Joannah has paid a huge price for her joy, but day by day she chooses to follow God in this journey through grief; and His grace is creating in her God's goodness, His peace, and His dream for her life.

On another blog, Getting Through This, Margaret writes about her attachment to memorabilia and the deep regret about throwing out notes her husband wrote to her before cancer--those notes would be treasures to her now. But once again she's faced with decisions--what to toss vs. what to keep. A prayer flutters up to God's throne; truth and forgiveness wash back down. She can let go . . . a sweet accomplishment of the grace and continual touch of God a little over a year since her husband died.

Some blogs haven't posted for a couple months, busy moms with young children tugging at their legs, and that's part of the healing, too. As Myra, who's husband died on Christmas morning when her daughters were 5 and 10, told me-- "In saving the children you save yourself." At times we step aside and "do the next thing," as Elisabeth Elliot often adjured. Constant self-absorption and focus on grief or venting can become counter-productive. The busy-ness of mommyhood salves the soul. Young moms might think they'll explode from the pressure, but God is giving them strength and wings.

The last blog I'll mention just changed the name from Jake & Ruth's Photo Blog to Ruth's Photo Blog. You understand why. As Ruth chronicles the first painful but precious days of widowhood my heart goes out to her; I remember, I weep, I pray. But I have hope because she has The Hope of Jesus Christ. And in the months to come, as the winter turns to spring, I'll witness her transformation, too.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (English Standard Version)